It’s Athfest week here in Athens, a week in which the city trots out its local talent (and a few select out-of-towners) like the show ponies and stallions that they are, all under the watchful gaze of the hateful Georgia sun.  Athfest is a blast, though it is perhaps the most unfortunately named festival in an America (pretend you’re saying it with a lisp) that also hosts Bonnaroo and Bumbershoot.  The Club Crawl offers a lot of bang for the buck ($15 in advance; $20 at Athfest), and there are a wealth of great bands playing on Athfest’s outdoor stages.  Besides all of the music, there is an artist market and lots of events for kids.  The Athfest organizers do a great job of keeping the daytime musical acts family friendly, so folks with kids shouldn’t have to worry about swear words and such.  Buy those kids some sunscreen, though!

Sadly, last Friday’s destruction of the Georgia Theatre has cast a pallor over the whole event, necessitating some last minute changes from Athfest organizers and bands.  The Georgia Theatre’s shows have been moved to the Morton Theatre, itself a fine facility, but it won’t be the same; the Morton is a smaller, seated establishment that doesn’t scream “rawk show.”  Still, the thing must go on, and I thought I’d offer up some of my picks.  As with any “club crawl”-style music festival, multiple acts will be playing at the same time.  It’s annoying, but it’s also a testament to the depth of our music scene.

Here are some of my favorites.  If I left something off, it is because I am an idiot, and not necessarily because the band stinks.  This is hard!

THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH

8:00 PM
The Flagpole Music Awards — Morton Theatre
$3 with Athfest wristband/$7 advance/$9 at the door
This annual back-slapping, ballot-stuffing popularity contest has all of the hallmarks of any awards show: banal jokes, overlong running time, awkward presenters, terrible acceptance speeches, and things you’ve never heard of winning awards.  In other words: I love it!  I’ve also seen some transcendent shows here, including Hope for agoldensummer’s Campbell sisters singing with their parents and Matthew from Phosphorescent playing in darkness, looping his voice over and over again.  The music selection this year is actually one of the best I’ve seen: Deaf Judges, Lazer/Wülf, Betsy Franck, Creepy, Lefty Hathaway, Art Rosenbaum, Casper & the Cookies, and Dead Confederate!

10:00 PM
Supercluster — Little Kings Shuffle Club
Free!
Vanessa Briscoe Hay of Pylon assembled a phalanx of talent for her new band, including members of Casper & the Cookies, New Sound of Numbers/Sound Houses, Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, and more.  Last time I saw them they sounded a little like a combo of Jefferson Airplane, This Heat, and Doc Watson.  No, I’m not joking.  The band is soldiering on despite the tragic death of guitarist Randy Bewley (also of Pylon) early this year.

Supernaut — Caledonia Lounge
$6 (21+) $8 (18+)
Lot of “super”s tonight!  Members of Producto, Cinemechanica, and Maserati come together for a female-fronted Black Sabbath tribute band, which is just a great idea.  Also playing this show are The Ice Cream Men (Van Halen covers) and Powerload (AC/DC numbers).

DJ Mahogany/Very Disco: A Daft Punk Tribute — 40 Watt
$5/free with Flagpole Music Awards ticket
Two of Athens’ best DJs put together a heck of a dance party.  DJ Mahogany knows more about soul, funk, and R&B than anybody in town.  Very Disco features Immuzikation replicating (sans giant pyramid) the over-the-top dance-pop of French robots Daft Punk.

Also worth checking out: The beautiful, piano-driven Hola Halo at Flicker (plus some other great acts) and reliable experimental krautrock Garbage Island and co. at Max Canada.  Only Thursday and already so many good shows!

ALL FOUR DAYS

11:00 AM
Athens Music History Tour — Welcome Center Kiosk in front of City Hall
$15 ($10 with wristband)
This two-hour tour will take you through the rich history of the Athens music scene, including the REM trestle and steeple.  Not only will this be a lot of fun for Athens music aficionados, it should be a nice tour of the Classic City itself, as it weaves its way through some of our most colorful neighborhoods.